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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think darts shouldn't be split by sex

27 replies

user1471517900 · 10/01/2018 18:00

Hears an interview today since there is a darts tournament going on. Men and women both playing their events at the same time in same place. I believe the men are playing for £100000 and women for £12000 if I heard right.

This naturally leads to a debate about even pay, but..... Is there an obvious reason why you'd need to have separate tournaments here? Surely there's no obvious reason why men would have an advantage over women in general. I'm no darts expert so maybe there is?

I do like the fact they play them both together as it gets both sexes coverage at the same time but it just got me wondering why this would be two tournaments in the first place.

OP posts:
ClashCityRocker · 10/01/2018 18:05

All the men I know go for a double twenty finish whilst women tend to go for double nineteen so I think height conveys a slight advantage possible.

Snooker is unisex now isn't it? There's just very few female players. I might have dreamt that.

PumpkinPie2016 · 10/01/2018 18:07

It does seem a bit weird - I wouldn't have thought it would make much difference who you played against.

BrokenHollandaise · 10/01/2018 18:07

Nothing to do with height. Players have a favourite double.

There was a female from the bdo that went to male pdc and she was trounced and went back.

Also there are 32odd men in the comp and only 8 women so I think a lot of the prize money comes from sponsors etc so if less women then less money

Original poster
user1471517900 · 10/01/2018 18:08

With snooker I could see that needing to use the rest is something players try and avoid and so taller players would have an advantage. So there might be something there but I wouldn't think a dartboard was so far away that smaller players would be that disadvantaged.

I guess you do lean forward in darts so taller players can perhaps lean nearer?

OP posts:
dingdongdigeridoo · 10/01/2018 18:12

The top darts players tend to be big guys. Over 6 ft. So I guess there must be a height advantage. Don't women get to stand closer to the board to compensate for this?

BrokenHollandaise · 10/01/2018 18:12

The height of dartboard and length of the oche are all standardised. So it's fair. Even for the women.

MaidOfStars · 10/01/2018 18:13

Darts is open, I think.

The lack of females at top level is social and institutional. More men play darts, they are encouraged into fine motor sports earlier in their lives, etc.

To counter this bias, there are female tournaments. But the main events are technically ‘mixed’.

spangles1963 · 10/01/2018 18:13

Yes I've always wondered why darts is split by sex. I mean it's not a test of strength or stamina,is it? I mean,in show jumping men and women compete against each other as it's a test of skill, and sometimes,speed,not strength,and a lot of it depends on the horse.

ChelleDawg2020 · 10/01/2018 18:14

In the PDC women are allowed to enter alongside men. Anastasia Dobromyslova (three-time womens world champion) did this but got knocked out in her first game.

I agree that segregation on the grounds of gender should be scrapped in sport. Prize money should be pooled, that way the best in the world wins the most money.

DailyMailReadersAreThick · 10/01/2018 18:16

I agree that segregation on the grounds of gender should be scrapped in sport.

Why do you want to eliminate 99% of women from competitive sport?

silkpyjamasallday · 10/01/2018 18:19

When I did clay pigeon shooting at school most of the girls had to have one eye covered to shoot as accurately with the boys. I couldn't hit half as many clays without an eye patch so it rang true for me. I can't remember the instructors explanation unfortunately, but women do have better peripheral vision so maybe that effects accuracy of aim?

Duchy0fGrandFenwick · 10/01/2018 18:20

Don’t men have longer and stronger Armando tha

Pawpainting · 10/01/2018 18:26

The top darts players tend to be big guys. Over 6 ft. So I guess there must be a height advantage. Don't women get to stand closer to the board to compensate for this?

It's nothing to do with height. The most successful darts player ever, Phil Taylor, for example, afaik isn't that tall

I used to play in a ladies darts league in London. Great fun but in general women just don't take it as seriously as men. Lots of us had partners playing in the men's leagues and the difference was incredible. Most of our games ended on double 1 tbh Grin

DeleteOrDecay · 10/01/2018 18:27

I agree that segregation on the grounds of gender should be scrapped in sport. Prize money should be pooled, that way the best in the world wins the most money

No no no this cannot happen.

Most sports are segregated by sex for very good reason. Men have a natural physical advantage over women. They would win almost everything if we allowed this to happen. Sports like rugby or boxing would become dangerous for women.

If we want to encourage more women and girls into sports removing segregation by sex is NOT the way to go. In fact that's a sure fire way to encourage women not to take up sports because what's the point when the men always win and are always picked ahead of them for teams.

I've always wondered why darts was segregated how ever. It's not a sport that requires a massive amount of strength or stamina. Could height come into it though?

Flywheel · 10/01/2018 18:56

I presume it's just to encourage more women into the sport as so few of them play compared to men (at all levels). Seems reasonable to me (as does the lower prize money in this particular situation)

MaidOfStars · 10/01/2018 19:00

Again, darts is not segregated. The female competition is in recognition that there aren’t many top flight females who might win the open category.

AssassinatedBeauty · 10/01/2018 19:07

It's fairly obvious that the disparity in ability is mostly or wholly caused by social, cultural aspects. Snooker, chess etc will be similar.

I never understand why people think women's sport shouldn't exist. Why should women not participate and not have the opportunity to win, to get sponsorships and recognition? Why is this only for men to do?

DeleteOrDecay · 10/01/2018 20:04

That makes sense maid. I don't really know much about farts to be fair.

Ive seen some people refer to sex segregated sports as 'special treatment' for womenHmm do they feel the same about the paralympics I wonder.

DeleteOrDecay · 10/01/2018 20:05

I obviously meant darts, not fartsBlush

Original poster
user1471517900 · 10/01/2018 21:05

Delete - I made several autocorrect changes when writing my OP for that exact spelling error!

OP posts:
TakemedowntoPotatoCity · 10/01/2018 21:09

Can women compete in snooker tournaments alongside men? I a!ways thought that would make sense.

BalloonSlayer · 10/01/2018 21:14

I know quite a bit about farts and am thinking about going to see a farts tournament. The taller the competitor the greater the advantage they have when they release their fart.

ShatnersBassoon · 10/01/2018 21:19

I'm far more bothered by the ornamental walk-on women at darts competitions than the separate competition for women. I can't believe a televised sport is still allowed to have such shit.

Tipsntoes · 10/01/2018 21:23

I don't know why the difference in performance/ability happens but if men and women played in the same tournament, as things stand, women would win no prize money at all.

KurriKurri · 10/01/2018 21:32

Do women stand nearer to the board usually ? (When I play against my BIL, I stand nearer, but he might just be trying to even things up as he is a much better player than me)
If women enter the mixed tournaments then surely they would get better I guess at the moment the top women players are not necessarily competing againts the best mixed competition if they are sticking tot he women's tournaments. Maybe they are feeling excluded in some way and that stops them taking part - I have no idea.
It would seem to me to be a game that can be played mixed.